I'm excited about the progress the middle school (6th and 7th) choirs are making this fall--we're off to a great start, singing with energy and enthusiasm. I wish I could bring you middle school parents into the classroom and see and hear what I'm pumped about. It makes me glad that we decided to change the format of our first concert of the year so you can hear the choirs as well. The FALL FESTIVAL OF MUSIC, in the ZCS gym on Tuesday, October 25 will give listeners a sneak peek into what we've been doing in all of our middle school music classes, including the 5th, 6th, and 7th/8th bands as well as the 6th and 7th choirs. All of the students in those groups are expected to attend and will help us treat the listeners to a sampling of our fall music. Join us at 7 that evening for a fun and encouraging night.

You could say it's been a very 'rhythmic' start to the school year for our 3-5 general music classes this fall. Or you could say we got started 'without missing a beat'. Either way, you would be mostly correct, for the focus of our classes this month has been rhythm--steady beat, rhythm patterns, beat groupings of 2 or 3. If you walk into class you'll probably see us signing, clapping and patting, moving, or chanting along with the beat patterns of songs. In 5th grade, we 're even more creative--we're writing our own rhythm ensembles and performing them in class. Ask your students to demonstrate what they've been learning. Unit quizzes are coming up in mid-October before we move on to our next fun topic: Melody!

UNIFORM UPDATE!! It's that time of year when we get all of our band uniforms organized and properly fitted so we can look great all year long! You've probably seen some news about uniforms--let me give you a quick update:

7th and 8th--Uniforms have been fitted and distributed. They should be taken home and tried on SOON because they need to be right by the Pumpkinfest Parade on October 8. Overlays were delayed at the cleaners and are coming soon! They are 'one size fits all' ...

5th and 6th--Along with our NEW BAND SHIRTS we hope to wear for the Fall Concert October 25, students must have a navy dress pant and dark shoes. I was reminded there may be used pants available at Ditto since we have done the navy pants for years. I also have a few pair of used if you care to stop and browse the music room boxes.

We're off and running with this year's 5th grade CADET BAND! This picture was taken on the first week we all played together--we were very excited to be starting to make music. By now each of the students has experienced the first few sounds/notes on their instrument and we're beginning to play simple tunes together. Tomorrow our PIZZA PARTY PRACTICE PROJECT begins--the students will be tracking practice minutes in order to earn a fun PIZZA LUNCH with Mr. S at school. Make sure your student is filling out his/her pizza practice form!

First Week

What a great start to the school year! I felt the presence of God in this place as we kicked off the year with a staff and board worship service Sunday night. It was also a blessing to worship again with the staff Monday morning. We got a chance to meet the new teachers and pray over them and then go over important information for the school year. Tuesday morning the hallways were once again filled with kids. We worshipped together at the all school chapel and then Wednesday we saw them in class as all the music classes started.

Thursday I was able to attend a music teacher's conference with teachers from the West Michigan area. Since this is only my second year teaching music, it was great to learn from others who have a lot of experience and expertise. I am excited to use the ideas and resources I got from the conference.

On another note, the Zeeland Christian calendar was just adjusted because of changes in the Zeeland Public calendar. A few Zeeland Christian concert dates may have to moved because of this; we are working on finalizing the schedule and we will post it soon.

Thanks for a great start to the school year!

-Mrs. TenHaken

WOW! I'm excited that the start of my second year is nearly here. We've got some great stuff planned for the year and I'm looking forward to building on the good start of 2010-2011. What a nice feeling for me to know most of my students by name as they year begins. Right now we're finishing up 5th grade band placement tests and we've got a nice group ready to begin as new band students the week of Sept. 5. For those returning instrumentalists, now that you are bored with summer, GET YOUR INSTRUMENT OUT of the closet, get it cleaned up, and spend some time playing.

There will be a LOT of information coming your way in the next couple of weeks about goals, schedules, grading, marching band plans, tryouts, procedures, etc. The BEST way to keep up to date is to get in the habit of checking back here OFTEN!

See you guys all soon--stop in and say HI when you're around!

Right Around the Corner

The 2011-2012 is right around the corner and we are busy preparing! We have been spending time picking out choir music, hanging bulletin boards, organizing rooms, scheduling performances, writing lesson plans and planning chapels. Only two weeks left until these rooms are filled with students. I hope you have a great rest of the summer; we will see you soon!